Social Justice …On the Move!
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Vol. 40, No 4 Winter 2007 Social Justice …On the Move! Contents 3 Editorial Foreword 4 President’s Message by Ann Marie Brennan 6 Humanity, Dignity, and Divinity by Jen Horan 8 Experiencing Detention Ministry by Augustine Won 10 The Search for Peace with Justice by Father Ben Urmston, S.J. NCLC-USA NATIONAL 11 Refl ections from Mwanza on CLC and Enduring Justice by COORDINATING COUNCIL MEMBERS Tom Bausch 14 Enfl eshing EverMORE the Word of JUSTICE by John EXCO MEMBERS LeVecke, S.J. Ann Marie Brennan, President 16 A Year-End Refl ection by Tina Vu Thomas Bausch, Past President 18 A Workshop on Ignatian Spirituality and CLC by Ady P. Viera Paula Burgan, Secretary Kitty Gray, Treasurer 19 Un Taller Sobre la Espiritualidad Ignaciana y la CVX by Ady John LeVecke, S.J., Ecclesial Assistant P. Viera REPRESENTATIVES 20 Refl ections on the Gathering of ExCo and Dong Hanh’s Gia Angelique Ruhi-Lopez & Dinh Thanh Tam’s in October by Sacred Heart Family/GDTT Carmen Santamaria 23 Projects 136 Youth and Young Adult Coordinators 25 A Reminder from the Diversity and Organization Committee Lois Campbell, WCLC Representative Susan Stith, Mid-Atlantic 26 UN Report Mary Wescovich, Missouri 26 Youth and Young Adult Updates Clarivel Marin de Dragas, New England 27 From the Regions Carmen Castagno, New Orleans Bruce Filak, New York Missouri Region Bonnie Hugeback, North Central Rieman Great Lakes Region Tom Taylor, Northwest New York Region Carol Klosowski-Gawecki, Rieman Great Lakes 28 North Central Region Clarita Baloyra, South Florida New England Region Steve Pehanich, Western 29 Western Region Liem Le, Vietnamese CLC Bibiana Hae Ja Rhee, Korean CLC 29 From our Treasurer 30 Proposal for an American Catholic Council Coordinating Editor 31 From South Africa Dolores Celentano 32 National Ignatian Spirituality Conference IV Layout & Design 32 Calendar of Events Patricia Carter Vol. 40, No. 4, 2008 32 Next Issue Christian Life Community® Harvest (USPS 985-900: ISSN-0739-6422) is published quarterly by the National CLC-USA Office National Christian Life Community® of the United States of America, 3601 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 3501 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108 MO 63108 314-633-4628. Subscriptions are $24 per year USA; $28 foreign, $34 foreign air mail. Items can be faxed to: 314-633-4400. POSTMASTER: Send all changes of address to (Be sure to indicate that the fax is for NCLC.) Christian Life Community® Harvest, 3601 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Visit our web site: www.clc-usa.org. Periodicals postage paid at St. Louis, Missouri Harvest / 2 EDITORIAL FOREWORD sons for these inequities, and try to bring true social justice Community of Christ, look past the Church’s door and see to our neighbors… the refugee, the hungry, and the poor, “As this Harvest takes a Take hands with the oppressed, the jobless in your street, more in depth look at Social take towel and water, that you wash you neighbor’s feet. Justice, we can see that the Community of Christ, through whom the word must charism of Christian Life Com- sound—cry out for justice and for peace the whole munity® practiced fully is a true world round: service to our world. Disarm the pow’rs that war and all that can destroy, turn bombs to bread, and tears of anguish into joy An important aspect of Bernadette Farrell, Community of Christ CLC is our work in the world and our collaboration with As members of Christian Life Community®, these ‘others of good will’ on issues, actions, or in prayer that words ring true in light of our thoughts on Social Justice, bring our world more in line with what we would desire and our ‘preferential option for the poor’. Of course, we for the Trinity to see in our world.” have not limited our understanding of poor to those who only need more fi nancial assistance. We see many who “…the idea of a faith that does justice and encouraged are needy around us—the many who seem to exist on the participants to consider CLC as a means for facilitating fringes of our society because of inopportune circum- discernment with their social justice groups. stances of living, e.g., lack of jobs which leads to inability There are people all around us who carry with them to maintain necessary family needs, absence of decent the wounds of Christ every day.” housing for those in dire straits, new immigrants(legal or otherwise) adjusting to a different culture, incarceration, “I felt that God was calling me to go and stand with Je- the hungry, homeless, chronically or terminally ill, elderly, sus Christ by reaching out to His neighbors who, although families faced with very little or no means to support their unknown entities to me, were my neighbors as well.” children, as well as those of our citizenry at subsistence levels without medical care, those affected by injustice, “Grounded in my faith and Catholic teaching, I now prejudice, local strife, oppression and war…the list could have the basic elements of what that way would be: a com- go on and on. mon ethic shared by all religions; the various forms of non –violence; a culture of basic human rights embedded in Each of these categories highlights the necessity that our legal and constitutional structures; widespread owner- ordinary citizens like ourselves join forces with others ship of the factories and farms; and a democratic world in order to bring about what is required, whether it be authority.” by working to provide needed services (whether they be physical, monetary or legal), and also by striving to restore “Living in Africa renewed for me our CLC and Igna- the dignity that each is entitled to as a Child of God…and tian call to the greater good in all we do; the call to change as our brothers or sisters. This effort necessitates involve- structures, to go where others do not go, and to do this ment not only at the local level, but through our elected with hope. This is a call to reconcile our specifi c fi niteness offi cials who represent us statewide as well as nationally; of time and place with the universal work we are called to your computer and letters to the editor are wonderful tools do.” in this venture…how’s that for being a contemplative in “It is my sincere hope that as a National community, action in the 21st century? we will continue to be “on the move” as His companions So it is necessary for us to become more actively in- as He was in His earthly journey to constantly readdress volved in order to lobby for change, no matter how small. and deepen ever more our Ignatian commitment to bring Perhaps we should aim to begin locally and then utilize our greater justice into our world.” country’s legislative systems for making broader changes We are also sharing a young adult CLCer’s impres- by not quitting the battle(which it is) until we actually see sions of her participation in the recent Ninth International some of the underlying causes of injustice being confront- Youth Forum held in Rome; an update on the potential ed publicly and politically, so others can see and hopefully development of CLC in the Charlotte, NC area; and some realize that each of us is responsible for those suffering in refl ections on the meeting of the New England Region’s our society. meeting with ExCo and members of a Dong Hanh com- In this issue, we have an opportunity to glimpse what munity. We are happy to include Projects 136, Towards paths some of our members have taken to confront the rea- Continued on page 7 Back to Table of Contents President’s Message Ann Marie Brennan In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius provides a Contemplation where the Trin- ity looks at the whole world. There is the colorful sphere of landscape and water, the green, the brown, the blue… There are no visible political lines. The Trinity looks at all the people in this world—and sees our sinfulness. Yet, the Trinity makes a choice to love us—all of us—and missions Christ to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As this Harvest takes a more in depth look at Social Justice, we can see that the charism of Christian Life Community® practiced fully is a true service to our world. As a discerning body with a worldview, we look at the sinful situations in our world and present ourselves freely before God to hear and respond to God’s call for us in these situations—individually and collectively. There is no shortage of problems for sure! But in using social analysis and Ignatian criteria in choosing where to engage—identi- fying the greatest need and discerning where we can effect the greatest good—we can Ann Marie Brennan be assured that we are doing our part in fulfi lling the mission of Christ, prompted by the President love of the Trinity. The United Nations body regularly looks to the spiritual groups of its Non-Gov- ernmental Organizations—of which CLC is one—as the greatest resource in bringing about peace in our world “…to harness the power of religious tolerance and spiritual faith to educate and mobilize their communities to focus on reducing divisions and ancient antipathies.” (www.millenniumpeacesummit.com/news000725.html)) To stay abreast of the work of our World CLC NGO, look for the bulletins which are distrib- uted three times a year and can also be found on the World CLC website.( http://www.